1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an aircraft passenger safety module for use in connection with evacuation of passengers from a disabled aircraft during flight. The aircraft passenger safety module has particular utility in connection with ejecting a module from an aircraft fuselage.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Aircraft passenger safety modules are desirable for removing passengers from a disabled aircraft. Air disasters end with impact of a disabled aircraft upon the earth. In some aircraft, the crew may eject from the cockpit or parachute to safety. Often, passengers survive the triggering event in flight only to perish at impact. Fewer passengers would perish if the passenger cabin of an aircaft detached from a disabled aircraft. A detached cabin would avoid the fuel and explosive risks in the remainder of the fuselage. Cargo parachutes support a loaded passenger cabin on a safe descent to the earth.
The use of parachute safety systems is known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,336 to Diamond discloses an airplane safety body passenger compartment. However, the Diamond ""336 patent does not keep the tail upon the aircraft, and has further drawbacks of requiring the aircraft to attain stall speed to deploy the parachutes, having multiple parachutes, and lacking a separate cockpit module.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,097 to Chalupa discloses a segmented safety aircraft that drags passenger segments upon inclined rails. However, the Chalupa ""097 patent does not use a single tail aircraft, not have free floating segments rather linked segments, and additionally does not have a separate cockpit segment.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,827 to Coyaso et al. discloses an air chute safety system that stores parachutes vertically and uses the parachutes to descend safely an entire aircraft. However, the Coyaso ""827 patent does not detach a separate passenger cabin, and cannot store parachutes horizontally.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,018 to Hinestroza discloses an occupant protection system that partially envelops a passenger in a chair. However, the Hinestroza ""018 patent does not have a parachute, and cannot protect multiple passengers.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,504 to Elizondo discloses an aircraft passenger extraction system that extracts modules along rails within the fuselage. However, the Elizondo ""504 patent does not retain the tail upon the aircraft, and cannot detach the passenger cabin directly from the fuselage.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,829 to Nance et al. discloses an in-flight evacuation system that has parachutes contained within passenger seats. However, the Nance ""829 patent does not have a parachute for the entire passenger cabin, and has the additional deficiency of a conveyor system to eject seats from doors in the aircraft.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe an aircraft passenger safety module that allows ejecting a module from an aircraft fuselage. The Diamond ""336 patent makes no provision for detaching the passenger cabin at flying speed. The Chalupa ""097 patent calls for a double tailed aircraft and rails beneath the passenger modules. The Coyaso ""827 patent makes no provision to detach the passenger cabin from the aircraft. The Hinestroza ""018 patent does not protect more than one passenger and lacks a parachute. The Elizondo ""504 patent does not eject the modules away from the aircraft. And the Nance ""829 patent lacks a parachute for the entire passenger cabin.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved aircraft passenger safety module that can be used for ejecting a module from an aircraft fuselage. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need. In this respect, the aircraft passenger safety module according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of ejecting a module from an aircraft fuselage.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of parachute safety systems now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved aircraft passenger safety module, and overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved aircraft passenger safety module and method which has all the advantages of the prior art mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a aircraft passenger safety module which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by the prior art, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises an aircraft that has a fuselage with a cockpit at the front and a tail at the rear, and jet or propeller propulsion. The improvement to the aircraft involves a fuselage having one or more modules located between the cockpit and the tail. The modules include conventional seating for passengers, means to seal the modules, means to detach the modules from the fuselage. One or more parachutes connect to the modules for use during an in-flight emergency of the aircraft, and the modules have a means to store the parachutes. In an emergency, the crew would enter the passenger module then send a conmmand to the module. The module would eject from the fuselage and the parachutes would deploy to slow the descent of the module to the earth.
Modules allow an airline to load passengers by groups onto an aircraft and to change the configuration of aircraft readily. An airline would board passengers into a module at a terminal. Equipment would then placed the module containing passengers upon a fuselage. Airlines may customize the interior of modules both in decor and seat configuration. An airline would then change modules between aircaft as needed.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.
The invention may also include a watertight module with hermetic seals to the fuselage and to the doors, an emergency beacon and motor carried in the module, and a cushion located beneath the module for landing. A watertight airbag functions as a cushion and a float. The module may have side-mounted fins as a cushion and for stability of the module. Ejectors release the module from the fuselage using hydraulic or explosive devices. A chamber above the passengers stores the parachutes for deployment in an emergency. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In this respect, before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and the scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved aircraft passenger safety module that has all of the advantages of the prior art parachute safety systems and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved aircraft passenger safety module that may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved aircraft passenger safety module that has a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such aircraft passenger safety module economically available to the buying public.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new aircraft passenger safety module that provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide an aircraft passenger safety module for ejecting a module from an aircraft fuselage. This allows a passenger module to detach from a disabled aircraft.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide an aircraft passenger safety module for ejecting a module from an aircraft fuselage. This makes it possible to land the module on land or water.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide an aircraft passenger safety module for ejecting a module from an aircraft fuselage. This makes it possible to interchange modules between aircraft as desired by airlines.
Still yet another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method of saving passengers from a disabled aircraft and returning them safely to the earth by these steps: 1) constructing an aircraft with a detachable module for passengers, 2) equipping the module with one or more parachutes located generally in the center of the module above the passengers, and 3) fitting the module with two or more ejectors on opposite ends of the module to separate the module from the aircraft.
Lastly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method of assembling and loading an aircraft, the steps comprising, 1) constructing a fuselage having two wings and a tail, and a generally flat forward section, 2) building a cockpit module for flying the aircraft, 3) building a passenger module with seats, and 4) securing the cockpit module and the passenger module upon the flat section of the fuselage forming an aircraft of typical configuration. These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.